.380 cal vs 9x18
I know the 380 cal. and 9x18 ammo are comparable in terms of fire power, etc., but are they comparable enough to be able to fire either shell in Makarov type pistol? My pistol says 9MM short (kurz).
I have noticed that the 9x18 ammo is a good deal cheaper than the .380 cal.
Any feedback is appreciated.
I have noticed that the 9x18 ammo is a good deal cheaper than the .380 cal.
Any feedback is appreciated.
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The 9MM short, 9MM Kurz, and the .380 ACP are the same caliber. I don't know about 9X18 designation. 0 -
They are different calibers.
The Makarov round (aka 9x18 mm, 9mm Makarov) loads to 23,000 PSI chamber pressure, uses a 18.1mm long case, and takes a bullet .365 of an inch wide.
The .380 ACP round (aka 9x17 mm, 9mm kurz, 9mm short, etc) loads to only 21,500 PSI chamber pressure, has a case 17.3mm long, and uses a .355 inch caliber bullet.
So no, while these two rounds are similar, they are not interchangable. You probably wouldn't be able to get a 9x18mm round to chamber in a .380 gun, and if you could, it would be potentially unsafe to try to fire it.
For what its worth, Makarov type guns are pretty good and relatively inexpensive, if you want to try to take advantage of the somewhat cheaper ammo.
Also, while the reasons for the scarcity and high cost of .380 ammo are beyond this post, I think the supply should be increasing over the next year with prices dropping a bit during that time.
Edit: You didn't ask, but as you may deduce from the info above, the 9mm Makarov round is slightly more powerful than the .380ACP round. Neither one is as powerful as a good .38+P special round. 9mm luger (aka 9x19mm, 9mm parabellum, etc) is more powerful than all of the above.
Edit x2: While it *IS* possible to find conversion .380 barrels that will drop into Makarov pistols, I'm not aware of any guns chambered in .380 that will accept a replacement barrel for 9mm Makarov. The reason is that (as above) the Makarov case is 1mm longer. I'd also imagine that demand for this sort of conversion was (until pretty recently) low. Again, if you want to shoot the Makarov round, guns chambered in it are pretty cheap. The surplus CZ-82 guns are pretty good and are still available for around $230 or so.
Edit x3: Chance of mistakenly loading a 9mm luger round into a .380 gun is virtually nil. The 9mm luger round is considerably larger, and being familiar with both, it would be hard to mistake one for the other. More to the point, the 9x19 luger round is simply too large to fit into any .380 (or 9mm makarov) magazine, let alone actually chamber in the gun.
Conversely, while its *possible* to fit a .380 round into a 9mm luger magazine, again the .380 rounds are a lot smaller and if you're familiar with either round you are unlikely to make this mistake. I've heard of people actually managing to load .380 rounds into 9mm luger guns and even getting them to fire, but again, pretty unlikely, and realistically you'd have to be fairly careless to let this happen.0 -
The 9mm Makarov cartridge is slightly larger in diameter then the .380. Because of this it won't fit or function in a barrel chambered for .380.
You might consider getting a 9mm Makarov replacement barrel for your pistol. This will enable you to fire the original 9mm Mak ammo in it.0 -
the 9mm to 380 conversion is pretty easy (and common) but with the cost of 380 ammo these days, i think youre better off shooting 9x18. 0 -
Thank you very much to all of those who responded to my question. The responses were very helpful! 0 -
I do not own any of the 380's / 9x18's etc. Anything and everything that could be confused with something intended for my 9x19 if in a stressful situation.
My opinion is to stick with one or the other, but not have something even close to another that could be confused in the heat of battle so to speak.0
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